Sly & Robbie

Jamaica has always been the proverbial melting pot of groove, and, naturally, the birthplace of riddim twins Sly and Robbie. Over the past forty years, drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare have mastered the art of innovation. It’s estimated the duo have produced over 200,000 songs, although Sly jokingly surmises the figure is probably closer to a million. “I’ve never really checked, but I believe since I was 16
years old I’ve been recording every day. I know it’s probably somewhere over that mark now.” With a list of references that includes the Stones, Dylan, No Doubt, Tricky, Maxi Priest, Michael Franti, Doug E. Fresh, Carlos Santana and Gregory Isaacs (and that’s just skimming the surface), the scope of their influence makes number crunching seem like overkill.

Sly’s estimation may actually be an understatement; considering intellectual property rights, it could be exponentially higher. Under the mentorship of reggae “godfather” Ansel Collins, 16-year-old Sly had his first number one hit in England with “Double Barrel”, an experience that remains his self –described career highlight. Meanwhile, Robbie was busy making a name for himself as bassist for the Aggrovators and catching the ear of Peter Tosh. Equally inspired by the sounds of Motown, they joined forces as mutual members of The Revolutionaries with Channel One in 1975 and laid the groundwork for a career that would launch them into the coveted stratum of reggae royalty. The source of their genius had equally to do with mentorship as geography. “It’s the people. The rhythm of the people in Jamaica is different. The vibe around here is laid back and it turns the whole music around, but in Jamaica we listen to everything,” he says.

Whether it was listening to the Beatles via radio or emulating Marvin Gaye, Sly and Robbie’s quest to uncover a universal groove gave way to a body of work as eclectic as their musical palettes. Using reggae as compass, that mindset has been the guiding force throughout their career. “You take a little bit of funk and bring it to reggae and we bring a little bit of r&b to reggae. You take a little rock ‘n’ roll and bring it to reggae. The whole thing is reggae. We take elements. This is what music is all about” Sly says. “You get a variety from certain tings, you take it to reggae and you might just reach everybody”. On October 23rd, the duo added the Sligo Live festival in Sligo Town, Ireland to their list of international outings.

From their onstage antics with Simply Stoopid and Pepper, to their latest retro-inspired effort, Inspiration Information, featuring neo-soul crooner Amp Fiddler, Sly and Robbie have been more than mere industry bystanders. Drum machine in tow, Sly helped popularize computer assisted beats during the mid 80s, a move that would massively augment the core of their fan base. Like the dancehall dub sequences on their 2004 release Word Up, their 1999 album Strip the Bone, (produced alongside electro legend Howie B.), sounds as relevant today as it did a decade ago. According to Sly, “When we were making [Strip the Bone], we wanted to make a different dub kind of record. I still think that album is the future.”

After so many years in the industry, they’ve witnessed more than just technological changes. “It was a different audience, everywhere was sell out so we were introducing our brand of reggae to these young people and it went over, you know” he notes, remembering their earlier days with the Revolutionaries. Whether contemporary audiences are more or less prone to sell-out remains open to debate, but the duo’s philosophy on making music hasn’t faltered. “I think the greatest thing about music is being yourself, being you. So we try to be ourselves, but we still listen to a lot of stuff too and we try to make it our own. We put a trademark on it, and do something so that people can identify it, so that people will be like, “Oh, that’s Sly and Robbie,” says the beat master. Beat by beat, they continue their tireless mission to bring groove to the masses and supply the world with riddims to mull over.

- Cameron Phillips

http://www.myspace.com/slyandrobbie